Altiostar CEO Discusses Ethernet-based vRAN with Network Times

Ethernet-based vRAN will be the Basis for 5G Vision Realization

Altiostar, which has begun to stand out in the global mobile network market, is getting into the Korean market. Altiostar, which has investment from Cisco, recently came out of stealth mode and set up a branch office in Korea to start a full-fledged domestic market. Altiostar is the first company to have developed an Ethernet-based vRAN fronthaul (virtual RAN) commercial solution for software-based LTE eNodeB. Network Times recently sat down with Ash Dahod, President and CEO of Altiostar.

Ash Dahod, founder of Starent Networks which was acquired by Cisco in 2009, established Altiostar in 2011 and developed the first commercial Ethernet-based vRAN (virtual RAN) solution. Altiostar’s unique technology improves not only efficiency of service quality and spectrum efficiency, but also reduced the TCO. It will play an important role in expanding 4G and implementing 5G.

First Development of Ethernet-based vRAN Commercial Solution

“Altiostar has developed a portfolio of LTE eNodeB solutions for all major LTE bands and deployment scenarios,” Dahod emphasized. “In particular, the Ethernet-based vRAN solution will expand 4G widely and will be the foundation for 5G implementation in the near future.”

vRAN, developed by Altiostar, splits the baseband functions and some L2 functions and L3 functions onto Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). This innovative split allows for using an Ethernet connection between BBU (Base Band Unit) and RRH which normally uses common public radio interface (CPRI). This Ethernet connection can cover up to 700 km. With Altiostar fronthaul implementation, it is possible to reduce the investment costs by replacing high price fiber optic infrastructure. Altiostar uses COTS hardware for its baseband with just 24 units of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware, 120 virtual BBUs (vBBUs) and 1440 intelligent RRH (iRRHs) in addition, TCO can be further optimized through reducing operating costs.

“Altiostar vRAN platform supports NFV + SDN and enables exceptional scalability and rapid innovation. It also reduces costs through the use of commercial hardware,” explained Dahod. ”In particular, Altiostar’s vRAN is based on a differentiated C-RAN architecture and supports LTE-A features such as DPI, LTE scheduler and so on. It also supports software intelligence for mobile edge computing.”

Progress with Local Korean Operators · Cooperation with RRH Vendors

Altiostar has six commercial references globally in a short period of time and PoC is undergoing with over 16 Global Carriers including Korea. vRAN is proven to have a significant TCO reduction in commercial networks and it is highly likely to become a core solution for realizing the vision of 5G.

“Altiostar vRAN consists of carrier-class open source NFV platform ‘vBBU’ and ‘iRRH’ with better coverage and capacity, solves capacity issues, and improves network quality. It will eventually implement Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) capability, leveraging spectrums and cell sites they already have,” said Dahod. “TCO efficiency will help carriers enable rapid LTE network deployment. We are working with Korean RRH manufactures for technical transfer and exploring new markets together.”